Its the end of summer and those of us who planted those adorable little basil plants in early summer with dreams of fresh pesto and bruschetta now have basil plants the size of trees spilling out of our Italian balconies. But have no fear, a sizable batch of pesto will soon cut those basil trees back down to size.

I am calling this Genovese Pesto, but I feel like I need to look over my shoulder when I say that because the “Regional Italian Cuisine” police might come arrest me. Regional cuisine is taken very seriously in Italy and with good reason. It is this strict traditional food philosophy that has maintained the delicious diversity in Regional Italian Cuisine. I had an Italian friend explain to me that when you say “pesto”, you need not say “Genovese Pesto” because it is understood that pesto IS from Genoa. You only need to state it if you are making a different variety of pesto like using walnuts instead of pine nuts or if you are making olive pesto or sun dried tomato pesto, etc… it is the same with Lasagna. You never need to say “Lasagna Bolognese” because it is understood that all lasagna IS Bolognese unless you state otherwise. Other examples would be “Vegetarian Lasagna” or Green Lasagna” or even “Lasagna Americano” when you have added far too many ingredients.

I am sure my pesto does not live up to the very high standards of true Genovese Pesto. Like all things “Regionally” Italian, to be true Genovese Pesto I need to use basil leaves from Liguria, local cheese, olive oil and pine nuts. This recipe is more for my American readers who will not judge me so harshly!

I definitely strayed from the recipe when I used walnuts instead of pine nuts but I got it from a good source that walnuts are also acceptable, but just don’t call it Genovese. I also used olive oil, Parmesan, garlic and salt.

My food processor wasn’t quite up to par so I couldn’t whip it into the uniform smooth paste that I would normally do for pesto but ALAS, my Italian friends told me that it should actually be chunky so your tongue could distinguish the different textures and you could identify each ingredient by looking at it. So my weak food processor actually saved the day and made my Pesto authentic Italian! My friends complimented my pesto by placing a forefinger to their cheek and proclaiming “Buono!” I even got clapping and an exclamation of “Brrrrrava!!” at the end of the meal, high praise indeed!

Pesto Genovese

Ingredients:

4 cups fresh basil leaves

2 Cloves of garlic

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan and Pecorino Cheese mixed

1/4 cup of pinenuts (or substitute with walnuts or cashews)

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Using a food processor first blend the garlic until finely chopped then add the basil. You may need to add the basil in batches since it is pretty fluffy when you first add it. Then add the oil, nuts and salt. Don’t blend it too much, a rough chop is desired where you can still detect the various ingredients with your eye and tongue. Add the cheese and whirl just until incorporated or you can add the cheese separate so as not to over process it. Add more salt or cheese to taste.

This Pesto is excellent spread on Brusccheta (toasted French bread) or on a portabella mushroom cap that you cook on a skillet. After sautéing the portabella mushroom on each side until lightly brown, spread the Pesto on the gill side of the cap and top with mozzarella cheese. Put the caps under the broiler to brown it nice and bubbly.

For pasta, the traditional way to serve it in Liguria is trenette (similar to linguine) and trophie (a thin, short, twisted pasta). I like it with spiral pasta or gnocchi (a thumbnail size pasta made from potatoes, flour and egg).

When you go to make your pasta, don’t overcook the Pesto, it should just be barely heated, or better yet, just add you room temperature Pesto to the hot pasta and it will be perfect. You don’t want to over cook that beautiful fragrant and bright green basil that gives the pesto all of the flavor and presentation.

Pesto Genovese